Why You Need: Registration with SoundScan, BDS, Mediabase & Gracenote

As an artist, when you finish your album, you feel like the world is at your fingertips, right? [That’s how many artists seem to us when we’ve witnessed the recording process.] Months, if not years of work, are put into building the album. Once the last mix and master has been finalized, it’s a sigh of relief. However, we find that many artists mistake that moment as being the end. The artwork and what comes after is easy peasy, right? No.

We tell artists often that what comes after the recording process is JUST as important as what you put into the album. Those things are not as immediately rewarding or as fun to do as recording, BUT they’re essential. Registering your music with various databases is one of the many not-as-fun-but-super-important things to do.

So, to start off, what is SoundScan, BDS, MediaBase & Gracenote? Well, I’m going to copy the definitions from Wikipedia so you know the technical answers to that SoundScan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada.

Data is collected weekly and made available every Wednesday to subscribers, which include executives from all facets of record companies, publishing firms, music retailers, independent promoters, film and TV, and artist management. SoundScan is the sales source for the Billboard music charts, making it the official source of sales records in the music industry. [Reference] However, not all stations are BDS registered or certified, so that is why we also value registration with Mediabase.

Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio and provides in-depth analytical tools for radio and record industry professionals.

Gracenote formerly called CDDB (Compact Disc Data Base) is a company that maintains and licenses an Internet-accessible database containing information about the contents of audio compact discs and vinyl records. It provides software and metadata to businesses that enable their customers to manage and search digital media. [Reference]. This is all fancy speak for: when you put your CD in a computer, if it’s registered on Gracenote, all the information will automatically show up in iTunes rather than just be “Track 1”, etc.

Again, why is all this important? Well, we live in a world of convenience. It’s extremely frustrating when I go back to look at some music an artist gave me, and I can’t find them on my computer because things weren’t labeled correctly. And knowing your sales numbers is ALWAYS an important thing. Those numbers will allow you the knowledge to sell yourself to a record label, management company, booking agency, etc. That’s why My New Release values submitting that information for you – we want your album and your work to be known in the right places.